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JCPenney to close 102-year-old Fort Morgan store, three others in Colorado

Retailer shuttering 138 outlets nationwide

By Robert Leininger

Times Editor

Posted:
03/17/2017 10:39:55 AM MDT

The JCPenney store in downtown Fort Morgan will be closed according to a press release issued by the company this morning. (Robert Leininger / Fort Morgan Times)

Downtown Fort Morgan will soon lose one of its iconic retailers and one of its oldest businesses.

JCPenney is closing the Main Street store, one of 138 stores the retailer will shut down, it announced this morning.

The closing is nothing less than a shock to the local community.

"This makes me sad! It's been a mainstay since I can remember!" exclaimed Cara Lambert Draegert.

"This is awful! Oh my gosh!" said Carla Strand-Krueger.

And Stefani Oliveira said "That makes me really upset! I shop there a lot!"

The store opened at April 4, 1914 at its current location at 321 Main Street. It was the 52nd store opened by the company. And it has survived over 100 years in downtown Fort Morgan.

JCPenney employees and supporters celebrate the Fort Morgan store's 100th anniversary in 2014 with a ribbon cutting. They also offered cake and a chance to win a $100 gift card. (Dan Barker / Fort Morgan Times)

City officials were as awe-struck over the news as residents.

"It is unfortunate that the Fort Morgan JCPenney store is on the list of stores slated for closure, as announced by the company today. JCPenney has been a fixture on Main Street for more than 100 years and has been a part of the local business community and residents' lives for generations," said John Brennan, Fort Morgan's Public Information Officer.

JCPenney locations in Longmont, Sterling and Glenwood Springs are also on the chopping block.

The release said liquidation sales would likely begin in April, with most of the stores closing by June.

The chain said the closures are "part of a continuing effort to advance sustainable growth and long-term profitability."

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Requests for comment at the Fort Morgan store were denied, due to the corporation basically putting a gag order on manager comments.

Earlier this year, JCPenney sold its corporate headquarters for $353 million, with a leaseback plan for 65 percent of the space.

The company's liabilities drifted to $8.71 billion in 2014, according to a MarketWatch balance sheet. The company has consistently lowered that liability in successive years to $7.96 billion, the balance sheet reads. JCPenney has present assets of $9.31 billion, the balance sheet reads.

Lisa Crowder, a customer service employee, left, and Katherine Stricklun, support staff, hold the cake made up of little individual cakes, each with the number 100 on it for JCPenney's 100th anniversary in Fort Morgan in 2014. (Dan Barker / Fort Morgan Times)

About 5,000 jobs will be affected by the closures, though the retailer said it will try to find relocation opportunities for some employees and provide outplacement support for others.

Fort Morgan city officials, already dealing with a significant downturn in sales tax revenue, were still bullish on the local economy.

"While sales tax revenue in the city was down in 2016, the announced closure of JCPenney is not an indication of an economic downturn to come in Fort Morgan. Rather it is a national corporate decision driven by many factors and is affecting stores in communities across the country, regardless of the strength of their local economies.

The city of Fort Morgan continues to take steps to ensure a solid economic future for the city, including the start of a project to provide gigabit broadband service to all businesses and residents. The city's Economic Development Department continues to work hard to attract businesses and employers to Fort Morgan. Residents can be assured the city of Fort Morgan is not standing idly by but taking strong and concrete measures to ensure a vital and diverse economy for the city's future," said Brennan.

JCPenney

On April 14, 1902, James Cash Penney opened a store in Kemmerer, Wyo., which was the start of one of the largest department store empires in America.

The start of that retail apparel establishment — between a laundry and a boarding house — marked a change in how business was done in a mining town of 900 people.

It opened on the premise that it would charge one price for all people, regardless of social status, and it would only take cash.

Local businessmen predicted he would fail, but residents liked the merchandise and service, and the store offered an alternative to the mining company's store.

Part of the service was "The Golden Rule," the store was named. Penney insisted that customer service follow Jesus' injunction to "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."

Penney envisioned a chain of stores that would cover the Rockies, it says in "James Cash Penney: His Life and Legacy."

By 1913, he had 34 Golden Rule stores, with sales of more than $2 million a year. At that point, the chain incorporated, becoming the J.C. Penney Company Inc. By 1929, it had more than 1,400 stores across the nation.

Penney died in 1971 at the age of 95. At that time, the company had 1,660 stores.

The Fort Morgan store had Andrew R. Watland as the first manager. He had moved from an assistant manager post at a Trinidad Golden Rule store.

JCPenney is also closing two supply chain facilities, one in Florida and another in California.

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